List 4A goes into effect, all Section 301 tariffs to increase by 5 percent, USTR deadlines loom, and the President orders American companies to “search for alternatives” to China sourcing. This is your end-of-summer Section 301 China tariffs roundup.

Some List 4 Tariffs Take Effect at 15 Percent; Lists 1 through 3 Tariffs to Increase to 30 Percent

The weeks before Labor Day were marked by more uncertainty at home and tit-for-tat trade measures abroad. On August 20, 2019, USTR published (84 FR 43304) the fourth list of Chinese products to be subject to additional tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. Following a series of public hearings, USTR dropped just 25 tariff lines from its proposed List 4, ordering that 3,780 full or partial tariff lines with an annual trade value of approximately $300 billion would be subject to an additional 10 percent duty.

List 4 is divided into two parts: List 4A, consisting of about $125 billion of goods where China’s share of global US imports is less than 75 percent, was scheduled for September 1, while List 4B is slated for December 15, with no allowance for good already in transit. List 4B includes cellphones, laptops, toys, and clothing. In announcing these tariffs, USTR has indicated an exclusion process will be established for all List 4 products, but the details of those procedures have not yet been made public. Read More